Hopscotching the border

Quick small world story…We stayed in a small hotel last night, where we bumped into the woman in the room next door. When she said she was from the US, I naturally asked where, to which she replied, “Fort Collins.” Are you kidding me?

We bounced on both sides of the border between England and Wales, as we drove from Cardiff to Liverpool today. Our first stop was the Tintern Abbey, in Wales. The monastery was built in the early 1100’s and was in operation for several hundred years. It has had repeated periods of decay and restoration and is enjoying significant efforts to preserve the current structure. It is an imposing sight and quite striking against the blue sky. I found it interesting that they only had one warm room, where they kept a fire going from November 1 to Good Friday every year. The monks were only allowed to go into the warm room under certain conditions; otherwise, their life was rather austere. So much so that Nikki and I both vowed never to become monks. They had one meal a day of bread and vegetables in the winter and two meals a day in the summer. The complex had a basic plumbing system that reminded me of the way the water was diverted and used at Manchu Picchu. The monastery is adjacent to the River Wye, which supplied the complex with water, was a convenient place to dispose of their dirty water, and was handy for farming. Eventually, Henry VIII put an end to monastic life in the early 16th century and cleared the structure of anything of value, such as the lead roof and windows. Unfortunately, without attention, the structure suffered. Today, it rests peacefully in a lush, green, and quiet valley, probably not a lot different than a thousand years ago.

We headed north and had our lunch stop in Monmouth, also in Wales. I wanted to take a quick peek at the bridge. Like many towns, the Romans established a fort in this area, and later a castle was built. But that’s not what I was interested in. Monmouth is home to the Monnow Bridge, which is the only medical bridge with its defensive tower still intact. It was built around 1270 to defend the town. I loved the thin, vertical, openings that allowed the occupant to look out without getting an enemy arrow in the eye. Over the years, the tower has been used for a variety of purposes, such as a jail and a toll house. We spent some time watching ducks swim on the River Monnow before we headed to our next World Heritage site.

According to Rick Steve’s, Ironbridge is the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. A man from the area perfected the smelting of iron with coke. Because cast iron was a new building material, they engineered the Iron Bridge like a wooden bridge and used waaaay more material than needed but maybe that’s why it’s still standing and in great shape. Erected in 1779 and opened in 1781, it looks like it will last several more centuries. The bridge spans the River Severn, whose banks are dotted with quaint English cottages and trees with branches bending down to touch the water. The view from the bridge made me want more time here. You can rent kayaks to float down the gorge, and I imagined how much more beautiful the view might be from the river’s perspective.Baca selengkapnya